Chapter 46: Church of Caela

In a dimly lit room with only the blue glow of a gem functioning as its only light source, an older looking man with neck length grey hair sat on a large couch as he patiently waited for something. Not long after, a younger but sharp eyed man came in with a folder.

"You have it?"

The sharp eyed man did not respond but instead handed over the file to the older man. Not minding the lack of verbal response, the older man opened the file and read the contents.

"Hmm… Only 4 this time around." He then grabbed a quill and crossed off two names. "These two are too old; likely already worked as a private mercenary before, hence their quick rise. These last two, though… get Red Sands and Weaver on this; they should suffice."

Responding with only a grunt, the sharp eyed man left to do as commanded. The old man, alone once more, looked back at the file.

"Fewer every year… Maybe we should start expanding to Initium…"

…

Sol already knew where the Church of Caela was located. From his time in the city, it was hard to miss the towering cathedral made of pristine white marble. As he entered the large welcoming doors, he saw that the inside did not actually have a roof, and each section closer to the altar at back of the church was more elevated than the last. It was similar to a giant staircase, as if trying to get a little bit closer to the skies.

While Sol was not a follower of any god, he did know a fair amount about them, including Caela, the Goddess of the sky. Back when the world was still new, the land, skies, and seas were in constant turmoil, life found it very hard to survive and thrive. It was not until the appearance of Caela, Kellam, and Naria that stabilized the rampant energies of the world. Naria calmed the seas, Kellam stilled the earth, and Caela silenced the skies. Once they brought peace to the planet, that was when the different races could finally flourish, bringing about the rise of civilizations.

Sol knew the stories and believed them as well, but he never became a true follower of any god. When he failed to receive his talent at the leveling ceremony years ago, his first reaction was to pray and ask for any god to help him and give him a talent like everyone else. But no matter how much he prayed and offered, his plight was ignored. Eventually, Sol subconsciously started blaming the gods for never gaining a talent and stopped praying to them. Although he finally gained a talent years later, he knew it was not because of the gods' intervention, and that it was likely the gods themselves had no control over it. That revelation broke the image of the gods he initially had, making him realize they were not as omnipotent as he was taught to believe.

After sorting out his personal feelings, Sol went to the nearest priest he saw to ask to meet with Diana.

Upon seeing his approach, the elderly female priest talked to him with a gentle tone, "Welcome, sky child. Are you here to remove your scar?"

Instinctually, Sol's hand moved to touch the sharp scar that ran from his cheek to the bottom of his neck. It was the last thing he had of his parents and while a sad memory, he would never part with it regardless of how it looked.

"No thanks. I'm here to meet with Diana."

Not expecting that name to come up, the elderly priest was shocked, "S-sky Touched Diana?! W-wait right here."

'Sky Touched?'

Sol saw as she scurried off in a rush; it seemed he underestimated how much influence she had here. While Sol knew about the general details of the church, he never heard of that rank. From what Sol remembered, in ascending order was Sky Watchers, Sky Speakers, and Sky Chasers. So he was not sure how much higher Sky Touched was, but from the priest's reaction, it had to be fairly high ranked. Diana never mentioned her status in the church before and Sol honestly didn't really care what role she had here so he didn't bother asking. It did not take long for the elderly priest to return as she briskly walked towards him.

"Please follow me."

Initially believing he was going to be taken up the comically large stairs, Sol was surprised to actually be led to the far left side where a door led underneath the stairs. Inside were hallways leading to different rooms for sleeping, supplies, and more.

'Well… I guess they still need a roof for sleeping and day to day matters.'

Being led through the winding passages, they quickly arrived at a door. The elderly priest quickly excused herself and left Sol outside the door. Sol mentally prepared himself as he knocked on the door.

"Come in, Sol."

Entering the room, Sol saw Diana sitting on a light blue couch as she gestured for him to take a seat on the couch in front of her. Taking her offer, Sol sat down as he waited for Diana to speak first.

After a minute of silence, she eventually spoke, "Would you like some tea?"

Sol's body tensed up as he stared daggers at Diana.

"Haha… Sorry, bad joke. I was just trying to lighten up the mood."

Realizing he had been too on edge, Sol took a deep breath to calm his rapidly beating heart.

"Haaa. It's fine. Let me just tell you what I know."

Sol then narrated his journey from the moment he accepted the quest to heading to the goblin encampment to hiding in the hut of the shaman and waiting to kill it quietly, and finally clearing out the rest of the camp. He also marked on the map where the camp was and anything else of note on the way.

"So at no point did you find anything that could be from the Harbinger?"

Sol shook his head, "No, the only thing that stood out was the idol you now have."

Not pushing for more information, Diana nodded, "We have already been to the camp and found nothing, but now with more context and the idol, hopefully we will be able to track it down."

"Alright, hope you find them."

Deciding to try to bring him along one more time, Diana asked, "Is there any way to convince you to join our search? We will issue a quest if needed and pay generously."

"No, I already told you I want nothing more to do with this. I'll be heading out now."

Diana sighed. "Alright. May Caela bless you."

Not interested in any rewards, Sol left and headed out of the Church. Even if the rewards matched the ones given by the commander, he simply didn't feel he could trust Diana. Outside of the church, Sol pondered what he could do now. Taking this time to slow down a bit he decided to go do some shopping as he gained a surprising windfall earlier today.